Almost exactly a year ago, the first COVID-19 tuition reimbursement lawsuits were filed against higher education institutions across the United States and we warned of the continued onslaught of such litigation. With the filing of those reimbursement class actions decreasing, higher education institutions should be cognizant of a potential new wave of COVID-19 class actions: privacy class action lawsuits related to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Continue Reading Colleges Should Brace for Next Phase of COVID-19 Class Actions

R. Craig Wood
Craig is an experienced trial lawyer who has taken more than 100 cases to trial in the areas of management-side employment, education, commercial and professional liability law.
Federal Agencies Respond to Concerns About Student Privacy
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Department of Education (ED) increasingly are responding to concerns about educational technology and its ability to capture and manipulate massive quantities of private student and parent data. “EdTech,” as it is called, broadly refers to online curriculum and instructional materials accessed by school and personal devices. EdTech has…
“Big Data” and Student Privacy Create Tensions for Lawmakers and Educators
“Big data” in the education context refers to the massive amount of information collected by K-12 schools and higher education institutions on student socio-economics, race and sex, test performance, academic performance, graduation rates, behavior and a myriad of other data points and how they all interact with one another. Collecting and analyzing student data is…
State Legislatures Protect Student Data and Mandate Greater Transparency
Public schools have generated and maintained massive amounts of student information for decades. Standardized test scores, grades, conduct records, psychological and medical information, student assessments, child and parent personal information, and teacher evaluations of children’s performance are all essential to providing and improving educational services. But with such massive amounts of data comes great risk…
Federal Judge Reverses Own Ruling on Release of Student Data
“Not so fast!” cried privacy advocates and parents when California federal judge Kimberly Mueller ordered the release of a huge database of personally identifiable student information to a group of plaintiffs’ lawyers.
Morgan Hill Concerned Parents v. California Department of Education is a lawsuit filed in 2011 that alleges that California schools have failed to…